I ordered another mobo...a gigabyte ga-8knxp.
I'm thinking my cpu is fine.. that it's just not working w/ the asus
because the asus has something wrong w/ it. I'll soon know
for sure if it's the mobo or the cpu.

Installed a Gigabyte GA-8knxp and so far it's working.
It posted and I was able to get into the bios.
That tells me that the asus p4c800 was definitely the problem.
Just got a bad board I guess, but I wasn't about to try
getting another one.

I was able to get my Asus working, after I removed the 9700pro, replacing it with an old GF3 I had laying around.

I have read on other forums about individuals having issues with the 9500/9700 series, because the Asus mobos do not like the 8x settings.

I have the same problem as many of you. Blank screen + System failed CPU tests. Your computer may well work for a couple of days or weeks first. But the problem is as stated before on these posts. When using a "boxed" intel CPU + fan/heatsink on a P4C800 Deluxe it gets squeesed to tight to the cpu when you tighten the arms on the fan/heatsink. You can try this yourself by laying your computer on the side and loosening the arms. Your computer probably starts up just fine now.

As well as many of you I don't like to file on the retention base as one guy did on this thread:
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/7272/

I have sent a complaint to Asus asking what to do and asking what kind of responibility they will take in this matter.

I'll get back when (if) I get any feedback from ASUS. Strange that this problem exists though, the board is based on an intel solution.

Check this out for all owners having problems with the Asus P4c800.
It appears that a bad solder point underneath the heatsink bracket is shorting out on another connection when the heat sink is installed on some/all ? of the p4c800's.
FWIW.



http://techsupportforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=610...genumber=3

Reading about the small glob of solder near the bracket on the backside of P4C800 deluxe, as the sourse of the common problem, which I also have. I have instead of useing a soldering iron, made a distans of leather,
so the bracket not press the place which shorts the motherboard.
I hope this will help me and I have not done something that influence the guarantee.

Hello fellow P4C800 owners

I wanted to comment on the solder on the back of the motherboard issue.

I originally purchased my motherboard in early June. After about a week it started having problems posting but was very sporadic. Finally it flat died and wouldn’t post. I simply went and RMAed the board with the vendor I purchased from. When I received my new board I installed the Retail 2.8g p4 and the system wouldn't post. At this point I checked the power supply and everything I could think of. Finally I called Intel support and RMAed the CPU. After receiving the brand new Retail p4 I installed it and again the P4c800 wouldn’t post. ( At this point I am so tired of hearing "System failed CPU test" ). So I called ASUS and again RMA'ed the P4c800. After a few weeks I received my tested motherboard. Again I installed the CPU only to not get a good post. After reading though the news groups I saw an article with pictures about the solder problem. It is very easy to see. You just have to remove the back retainer for the P4 heat sink holder. Right there in front of me is a solder blob that had been flattened by the pressure from the retainer. Now I got my third RMA from ASUS and the said I should loosen the heat sink screws on my next board. (BULLs**t!)

The problem is this!... Solder under constant pressure behaves like a fluid. period! This means with the CPU clamp applying pressure to these bulging solder contacts, it’s just a matter of time before your system doesn't post with the stock heat sink holder.

The fix for your problems is as follows. First RMA your P4c800 board with ASUS and get one that isn't crushed or deformed by the Intel retail heat sink. (You can fix the solder joints if you want but it’s a risk that will void your warranty) Then go out and purchase an Alpha or other heat sink that doesn’t use the ASUS heat sink retainer. The Alpha heat sink uses bolts and plastic washers to hold their heat sink on. There is no pressure at all applied to these solder points.

Now from what I have seen every board ASUS sent to me has had this problem. Sadly many of these fixes that relieve pressure will simply delay the inevitable. This is because "Solder under constant pressure behaves like a fluid". Any pressure to these solder joints will cause them to flatten and expand over a trace. Sadly this is a problem where someone should sue (This problem is ASUS issue alone and it has cost me a lot of time and money in shipping not to mention devaluation of the hardware I purchased over 4 months ago). It’s was easier and cheaper for me to have a friend use a solder sucker and fix the joints. After this my, motherboard powered up like a champ on the first try.

It’s very sad to see this. I've always been a big fan of ASUS and thought I was purchasing the Cadillac of motherboards. Now I realize that it’s probably a fluke this happened. However, the fact that they still haven’t admitted to this and don’t seem to understand the problem is not giving me a hole lot of confidence in their technical expertise.

I hope this post helps some of you guys short the problem because I have seen so many different solutions that wont solve the problem.

Best of luck

Christopher

I had to rma my first p4c800. Not wanting to wait two weeks I "rented" one
from a bigbox type store. Checked it out. Yep solder points were shorted out. When I got my replacement board from Asus I checked it right away. Sure enough the dreaded solder problem was even more evident then the others. This really p**ses me off. These are expensive boards. You'd figure that the techs know about this and wouldn't send out a replacement board with this problem. Not wanting to deal with any more b.s. I fixed it myself. You have to be very careful. You need plenty of magnifcation to see what you're doing. You take an xacto with a new blade and gently push down on the offending solder with several pushes if necessary. This will make a nice straight line. And then clean the area carefully for any little boogers. Do not slice, it's too easy to slip and mar the pcb or other traces. Done the way I suggested it's undectable. Next board I buy I'm going back to Abit.

Hello all,

all people reported that this problem exits on the ASUS P4C800 Board,
but i have the same with my ASUS P4PE ! So could it be the same problem with the solder ?
Which Boards have this problem ? Anybody knows about that ?

I recently spent about 30+ hours trying to get past the lovely "System Failed CPU Test" on my new system. Aargghh!! It was super frustrating, and tiresome, but it seems to have paid off. My system is now stable and behaving very well!

Albeit, my ASUS MB is not a P4C800 Deluxe (note: A7V333 also has this problem), I'm hoping that my success story can help other PC builders with ASUS MB's having the dreadful "System Failed CPU Test" not booting symptom.

Main components of my new system:
MB - ASUS PC-DL Deluxe (Dual Xeon 533Mhz FSB)
RAM - Corsair TwinX PC-2700 (333 MHz) Matched Pair 2x512 MB
CPU - 2 x Intel Xeon 2.66Ghz 533Mhz FSB Retail with Intel heat-sinks, fans, etc.
PSU - Enermax EG465P-24 460W (Xeon Ready)
HDD - 2 x WD 36GB SATA 10k RPM
VGA - ASUS V9520-TD 128MB DDR 8x AGP GeForce FX-5200
CASE - CaseEdge TS1 Middle Tower (I removed PSU that came with it)

Well here's a brief recap of assembly events, problems and solutions:
- All excited, my components all arrived at my door-step the same day... I'm ready to build.
- Being overly optimistic, I install both DIMM's, CPU's/heat-sinks/fans, & desired jumpers, then mounted MB in case.
- Again, optimistically, I connect both HDD's, FDD, insert AGP card, and connect power to all.
- I connect all case cables (USB, IEEE-1394, game port, audio, front-panel, etc.)
- I hookup my existing peripherals (keyboard, mouse, & monitor).
- Aahhh, now it's time to give a whirl. FYI, it’s never good to connect everything for 1st run. It's better to only install bare minimum to reduce problem variables. I was never much for following rules, hence my repeatedly back-firing optimism.
- Well, all the fans worked and were even blowing in the right direction. No warning lights showed on the MB. But, what's this, a very loud lady starts talking through my speakers. She keeps repeating over and over and over, "System Failed CPU Test, System Failed CPU Test", etc. Hhmmm, okay, that's all my PC was capable of doing. Not even a video signal, hence, not able to view, configure, or update BIOS. Okay, it was back to the real world again. Crappola!
- I searched the internet for info on this "System Failed CPU Test" and, surprisingly to me, found hundreds of articles. I was certain that this problem was plaguing ASUS tech support. I found a few good suggestions, but no real working solutions. Only band-aids and cover-ups.
- Methodically, I checked for the following causes: MB ground/short, excessive PSU connections, disabled (via jumpers) unnecessary MB devices, verified PSU specs to match MB, disconnected front-panel and other unnecessary MB pins.
- Damn! Still no difference. Just the loud looping "System Failed CPU Test"
- I tried reseating the CPU's in their sockets... no change... Then tried booting again and again, and again, and oh wait, it booted to BIOS successfully. Hhmmm, what the hell is going on here? I really truly don't like unpredictable PC behavior. I familiarized myself with the BIOS w/o making any changes. Is it maybe, miraculously, fixed? I restarted the system only to get the "System Failed CPU Test" again. Aargghh!!
- Okay, staying calm, I called ASUS tech support. They supposedly opened a case # for me (still can't inquire about it, because it “doesn't exist on their system yet”. Ahhh boy!!) They suggested trying 1 DIMM vs. the other and likewise with the CPU's. I thought this was a reasonable approach to the trusty elimination process.
- Tried only 1 DIMM, then tried the other. No success here... still "System Failed CPU Test"
- Removed CPU2, then vuala, it booted to BIOS successfully. I restarted and it booted to BIOS again. At this point I'm thinking maybe it's a bad CPU. I would feel very unlucky if this were the case as Intel almost never ships a faulty CPU.
- I installed the CPU in question into the CPU1 slot, leaving the CPU2 slot vacant again. It booted to BIOS successfully. I restarted and it booted to BIOS again. Okay, I'm guessing by this that both CPU's are probably good. Maybe the MB CPU2 socket is faulty.
- I really, really didn’t want to RMA my MB (Not enough beer in fridge for that). So, for kicks, I put the other CPU in the CPU2 socket (keeping CPU1 socket occupied). To no avail, again getting only "System Failed CPU Test".
- I'm not too pleased with the 603/604 heatsink clamp that Intel included with their Xeon CPU's. I seem to recall that even the old 233MHz CPU heatsinks were tighter against the CPU than these. Hhmmm, in desperation, I decide to use 2 pliers to bend the Xeon heatsink clamps so that these bad-boys really push tight against the CPU's. Boy do they fit tight now! Nevertheless, the system hasn't given me a problem since!!!!

I really feel for the ASUS techs. My experience with this problem seemed to be with ASUS, and arguably so, up until this CPU-to-heatsink alteration. I now feel that Intel needs to speak for this issue. I have always been extraordinarily pleased with ASUS's products. They really do build the best in my opinion. However, this issue of "System Failed CPU Test" obviously crosses into the AMD realm as well. Perhaps the ASUS boards are highly sensitive to the CPU manufactures thermal specs. Not a bad idea with today's super-speedy micro(scopic)-chips.

Very briefly, my solution:

Make sure that your heatsink presses firmly against that CPU (never leave out the thermal compound/paste, I highly recommend Arctic Silver or comparable). If you think it could be tighter, maybe try bending (or otherwise altering) heatsink clamps/springs to appropriately increase pressure between heatsink and CPU.


Happy Building

First off, thanks everyone for describing the problem so thoroughly – this probably saved me quite a bit of time!

Second, I just wanted to share my solution to the problem – an alternative to filing down the plastic or anything like that.

The problem is, as many have pointed out, the heat sink clamps on too tightly and crushes the solder point on the back of the board. I see two problems that need to be fixed here:

1. The heat sink needs to clamp on less tightly – to fix this, I bought a few nylon washers from Home Depot that fit between the top of the motherboard and the heat sink retainer. This lifts the retainer just enough to make the heat sink fit snuggly, but not make you feel like you are going to snap your board in half.

2. The part of the heat sink retainer that is on the *back* of the motherboard is making contact with the solder point, and delivering constant pressure (as pointed out by others). In order to relieve the pressure permanently, I put another set of nylon washers between the bottom of the motherboard and the back part of the heat sink retainer. This lifts the back part of the heat sink retainer off the board just enough that it no longer makes any contact with the solder point.

Everything seems to be working perfect, as I have not had a single CPU failure. I did not have to file down the plastic or anything else that might void the warranty. I hope someone finds this solution useful!

Thanks!
Ryan

Well folks I've given up the idea of contacting ASUS about this...i think they're virtually non existence in the UK! Anyway, I managed to contact my retailer(also a friend of a friend) who immediately gave me a brand new Revision 2 board...and guess what...looking underneath the retainer at the bottom of the board...I see no soldering bits!! Its flat now...at least ASUS has rectified the problem with a new rev of the boards...my advise is take it back to your retailer who to be honest can get a better response from ASUS than we can, get it exchanged for a Rev 2 board and let them RMA it back to ASUS.

kay

Hi
This problem will be solved if you follow advice on the forum. 1/ There CPU is too tight. I f useing boxed cooling, file aprox 1mm off of cams, go steady best to take to little .. When correct there should be no distortion of frame.
2/
Check under plastic spreader plate, ( under MoBo) You will see solder that has been spread over circuit. Clean this up, using solder sucker. You may need to add a small amount of solder first in order to be able to clean up that which has been spread. apply minimal heat.
3/ Under plastic spreader plate (actually on the spreader plate) you will see it is made up of webs. Find which of these are coming into contact with the solder an gently file 0.5mm off.

I had same problem as thread starter and this fixed it.

Only do this if you do not want to get a replacement.

I have this same problem but I have a P4C800-E Deluxe. I heard that the heat sink problem is only for the P4C800 Deluxe. Is this true? My system ran fine for 2 months and all of a sudden I'm getting system failed cpu test from the post voice. I haven't seen any people haveing this problem with the P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard.

I have this same problem but I have a P4C800-E Deluxe. I heard that the heat sink problem is only for the P4C800 Deluxe. Is this true? My system ran fine for 2 months and all of a sudden I'm getting system failed cpu test from the post voice. I haven't seen any people haveing this problem with the P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard.

Sorry for the Double post

Even i faced the same problem. but i found a temp solution . when this happens unlock the cpu fan , adjust the heat sink & wola ur up again. but i need a permenat solution.
i use a asus p4b.
& p4 1.5

Jeremy,

I also have a P4C800-E Deluxe and it looks like I have the same problem now too. I've contacted ASUS, but so far they're not really helping. I had my system running flawlessly for 3 weeks, and now I get all the signs of the 'solder problem'. If I release the retention clamps on the heatsink, the system boots; otherwise, nothing.

Let me know if you find out anything and I'll do the same.

I also have a P4C800-E Deluxe and since a week or so (after months without any problem), my PC started freezing in XP or memtest86, or rebooting. After this, I get either "System Failed CPU Test" and no video output, or "Overclocking Failed". After multiple reboots it works again... But it happens more and more !

I have a Zalman 7000Cu, I loosened the fixation a lot (my cpu is still cooled enough) and now it doesn't seem to freeze or reboot (Burn program running since 1h or so).

So... I know that this fixation problem can cause BIOS problems, but can it also cause freeze/reboot of the PC ?
And then, what should I do to fix this problem ?
I'd prefer to have my Zalman well fixed and do something else to fix this... should I RAM the card to get a new working one ? Did Asus fix this problem with Rev 2 cards as they did for the non -E ones ?

Thx !

I still haven't heard from ASUS, but I did get a tech guy to tell me that removing the CPU retaining bracket does not void the warranty. So, I removed the bracket and right underneath it was a clearly visible and unmistakable "smushed" solder joint. The deformed joint is obviously bleeding over the traces.

I'm RMA'ing my board. We'll see what ASUS does about this, but I'll probably just have to spend another 60 bucks on an Alpha to avoid stressing the board.

I am building a system with the p4c800-e deluxe and I called ASUS tech support about the retail heatsink being too tight and the solder problem. Since I am building the system, I am trying to avoid problems before it occurs.

I mentioned to him that the Intel website indicates that board stiffeners should be removed (http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentium4/sb/cs-001...prd483.htm)
I asked him if I should remove the stiffening plate and he told me to just loosen the screws by a quarter turn to which would relieve the pressure.

Not sure if that is going to work though....